Typhoon Saudel makes third landfall along coast of east China

Beijing, Sep 3 (IANS) Typhoon Saudel, the 18th typhoon of this year, made its third landfall on the coast of east China’s Fujian Province on Thursday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 23 metres per second near its centre, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.

It landed along the coast of Zhangpu County in the city of Zhangzhou, Fujian, at around 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

On August 28, Saudel made landfall twice along the coast of east China’s Zhejiang Province at around 8:05 a.m., packing maximum sustained winds of 35 metres per second (Force 12) near its centre, according to the provincial meteorological observatory, reports Xinhua news agency.

Shortly afterwards, at around 9:10 a.m. on the same day, the typhoon made its second landfall along the coast of Wenzhou City in Zhejiang with a maximum sustained wind speed of 33 metres per second.

Zhejiang had raised its typhoon emergency response to Level I, the highest level, on August 27. Measures were taken to ensure that no people, vessels or activities remain at sea.

Approximately 247,700 residents in high-risk areas in Fujian had been evacuated as of 7 a.m. on August 28, while more than 80,000 emergency personnel and 80,000 pieces of equipment were on standby, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

To prepare for the typhoon, Zhejiang had carried out comprehensive risk inspections. More than 4,000 monitoring personnel had conducted over 19,000 patrols at more than 7,200 geological hazard potential sites and risk zones, while 564 geological experts had been dispatched to 73 counties to assist in risk identification.

The National Meteorological Centre issued a typhoon alert on August 28 morning, forecasting that the storm would move southwest at 20 to 25 kilometres per hour and gradually weaken.

–IANS

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